Transfixed (Witches of Jackson Square Book 1)

by A Lonergan

  She put her hand on my elbow and led me to my bedroom. Her hair was up in a towel, and she was barefooted, which wasn’t a normal occurrence. Though she was easily frazzled and a little panic driven at times, her appearance was always put together. I couldn’t tell the last time I had seen her with her hair in a towel, I had probably been just a child.

  Her wide eyes searched mine when she pulled me to a stop. “What do you know?”

  “I saw a building go down in the distance, it was a rather large one.” I raked my hands through my hair before I continued on. “I would imagine the earth shaking was her bringing in enough power from the essence to take down the hotel or whatever it was.”

  My mother almost looked like she relaxed. “Sariah.” She shook her head and crossed her arms over her white t-shirt. “We should have known that she was going to come back with a bang. It has been too quiet for days.”

  “Has Father figured anything out about the mirror?” It was all I could think of, even now. My grief and guilt driving me to do whatever it took to make this right.

  “No, though you did collect all the pieces. It will take a lot of power to restore it and even then, we don’t know if anything has happened to her there.” My mother gave me a sad smile, I knew she could feel my torment, but I didn’t want to focus on it with her.

  “What do we know about the Mirror Realm?” I asked, determined to find a way around the mirror.

  “It is where we came from, or rather our ancestors. All magical beings are from there. The reason it is called the Mirror Realm is because that is the only way to get there. It has been our dumping ground for prisoners for ages, though I don’t know much else. All magical beings are from there, remember that before you do something stupid.”

  She knew me too well and knew that I was going to do whatever it took, even if it meant traveling somewhere I wasn’t familiar with. I didn’t know the land, but I did know that I was powerful and had harnessed my magic at a young age, not much frightened me. Not even magical beings.

  I sat perched on the roof of the compound, not able to sleep. I watched in the distance, waiting for another building to crumble to the streets of our city. There was a growing fear inside of my chest that they would come for us next. I shook my head, trying to clear the growing unease settling in. I backed away from the ledge and put my face in my hands, there was only so much guilt a person could experience.

  Just as I was about to head in for the night, I watched as lights and wind swirled in the distance. Magic circled around the area that had lost its building, and I observed as a new one started to grow into the sky. Vines carried the largest pieces of brick and began to rebuild the structure crudely. I was afraid of what this would do to the humans until I noticed the iridescent bubble surrounding it all. The humans wouldn’t know. They probably hadn’t even known about the building going down in the first place. I could have slapped myself.

  Of course, Sariah would take such measures. She didn’t need anyone harping on her plans or ruining them before she even got started. I took the stairs two at a time and about ran head first into my father. He steadied me by my shoulders and looked into my eyes.

  He smiled then, and I had a strange feeling of dread coat my body. Then he started to speak. “We found her.”

  I was dumbfounded, but I didn’t know why. I should have known that if anyone could do it, it was my father. He led me down the hallway straight to his office, the mirror was sitting up on his desk, and the lights were low. He waved his fingers forward and the mirror illuminated. I tentatively took a step forward. My heart skipped a beat when my eyes landed on her. Her red hair was in long tatters down her back, and her face was smudged with dirt, but that wasn’t what had me staring.

  It was the fact that she was about to enter into a massive castle with a fairy on her shoulder. Her light eyes were bright with wonder as she took her surroundings in and the fairy spoke adamantly as they made their way through the dark corridor. Just as I was about to ask my father something, Freya turned her head sharply and looked directly into my eyes. She furrowed her brow and frowned, before shaking her head and continuing on.

  For a second, I could have sworn she was seeing me, but I didn’t know how that would have been possible. My father was looking at me with a curious grin and a cocked eyebrow. I let out the breath I didn’t realize I had been holding and cleared my throat.

  “How is it possible that we can see her? Does that mean that she will be able to come back through?” I asked.

  He shook his head. “She has left the banished lands, any hope for bringing her back through this mirror is lost.”

  My eyes found their way back to the girl with the flaming hair. Somehow, the annoyance that I had had with her had turned into something else. It had evolved into a different kind of curiosity with much less animosity than before.

  “How did she get out of the banished lands?” I asked, my voice taking on a different tone. A softer one.

  “That is an interesting question, now isn’t it? It seems to me that our sweet Freya is quite resourceful.” My father turned away from me and left the room.

  Indeed she was.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Freya

  The hair on the back of my neck prickled and I got the strangest feeling that I was being watched. When I turned my head to look back, nothing was there; but I couldn’t shake the feeling that something had been. Wyna continued to prattle on about the castle and the royalty that lived here. She had taken up residence on my shoulder, and as much as I didn’t mind it, the little thing had a voice that carried. I found myself wincing more than I meant to.

  When we finally made it to the throne room, I paused. I had never met royalty before. I had never met anyone really important. Bouncing around from foster home to foster home didn’t exactly give a fun or adventurous life. I didn’t know how to act, and the only royalty or important people I had ever encountered had been on my tv. Wyna looked up at me startled.

  “What is it? Does my breath stink?” She looked around horrified. Like anyone could smell her little breath.

  I let out a small laugh at her comment. “No, I just don’t know what to do. I have never been around anyone famous or important before.”

  It was Wyna’s turn to laugh. “There is nothing to be afraid of Queen Armia is wonderful.”

  I believed her, but it did nothing to calm my erratic heart. I took a deep breath and took a step forward. The walls were gold and silver. It seemed to be dripping off of everything. But the throne, it was made of wood. It was a large wooden chair and seated right in the middle of it was a woman with lavender eyes and long raven hair. Her legs were dangling over the side of the throne, and her eyes twinkled with mischief. Her voice boomed around us, “Welcome back, Wyna! Welcome newcomer, I am Armia! Welcome to the kingdom of Arbor.”

  A man cleared his throat beside her, “Queen Armia,” he corrected. I didn’t know how I had missed him in my observation of the room, but I couldn’t seem to take my eyes off of him now. His purple eyes were a touch lighter than Queen Armia’s, and his light blonde hair was cropped to his shoulders. He had his arms crossed over his chest and was looking at the queen with disapproval.

  The queen rolled her eyes and glanced at him over her shoulder. “Really, brother, you know I loathe the title.”

  The prince pressed his lips together in a tight line and looked to his pointed shoes. Queen Armia went to stand as we got closer and I noticed that the blouse she was wearing was actually a crop top and her pants were skin tight. A jewel twinkled above her belly button as she moved about. Her brother stayed standing right where he was, choosing to keep looking at the ground in front of him.

  Wyna flew from my shoulder and crashed into Queen Armia’s arms. The queen let out a spell of laughter and clutched her to her breast. Wyna floated up to her body before taking a seat on the queen’s shoulder. The woman smiled at me, and I had the urge to bow. I leaned forward slightly, and Queen Armia grabbed my shoulders to k
eep me from going any farther.

  “You have come here as a friend to Wyna, then you are a friend to me. No need to bow.”

  “Yes, Your Majesty.” I couldn’t help it. I had watched Disney growing up.

  “Please, just call me Armia.” She gestured over her shoulder. “This is my brother, Cal.” He chose to nod his head and continue to look at the ground. They didn’t have many similarities between them.

  “I’m Freya.” I didn’t know what else I could possibly say.

  Armia took a step backward and fell gracefully into her wooden throne. “What has brought you so far, Freya?”

  “My mother,” I paused, not really sure of where I should start. “She was banished in the barren lands.”

  “Was?” Armia wrinkled her eyebrows. I watched her brother out of the corner of my eye, he didn’t move.

  “Yes, she used me to escape.” It was my turn to look at the floor.

  Armia sat up straighter and narrowed her eyes. “You speak of Sariah.”

  I swallowed hard and nodded my head.

  “I had feared as much,” She bit the inside of her lip. “Now you are trapped here.”

  “Seems that way, yes. I wouldn’t know how to get home even if I wanted to.” My words surprised us both.

  She raised her eyebrows and Wyna leaned forward with a concerned look on her face. “I will have Wyna fill me in on your journey, but why wouldn’t you want to leave? You haven’t been here long.”

  “As much as I love my realm, I wonder if this is my fate, to start over here.” I didn’t know where any of this was coming from, but I continued on anyway. “I wouldn’t know where to start back there, I think I could do a better job here. Where people would have a chance at getting to know me and maybe I wouldn’t be that much of an outsider.”

  Armia leaned back in her chair and addressed me cooly. “You will be an outsider here, yes, but my people will accept you. Are you sure that you want to stay? You don’t want to follow your mother and go back to your home?”

  “I have no home there. And the woman you call my mother? She is no such thing. All she did was give me life and then tried to take it back.” I tried not to let too much hatred sink into my words.

  Armia looked down at Wyna on her shoulder and frowned. “If you wish to stay, no one will stop you,” She smiled then. “And it’s always nice to have an earth dweller here every once and awhile. It’s nice to get caught up on the times.”

  I nodded my head forward. Cal still hadn’t looked up from the floor.

  “You will stay at the castle, of course, you are a royal guest, and until we find out your powers and your ranking in society around here, you will keep me company throughout your stay.” Armia clapped her hands. “Cal will show you to your rooms.”

  Cal finally looked up from the floor and scowled at the queen. “I am no errand boy.”

  She rolled her eyes. “I know this, I just figured you would like to get to know our guest a little better. You haven’t spoken once since she came in, that is very unlike you.”

  Cal frowned. “I am allowed to hold my tongue on your behalf.”

  Armia lifted a perfectly sculpted eyebrow. “Very well, but you will still show her to her rooms.”

  The walk through the halls was quiet. We had two guards flanking us, and it made my hackles rise, though I understood why they were there. The prince’s life was important, and they couldn’t risk that. Not for some silly outsider that was wearing odd clothes. Cal was wearing a sleeveless tunic that fell right above his knees and tight pants like Armia’s. They reminded me of leggings, and then his low cut pointed weird shoes. His arms were covered in thick olive colored tattoos, and his entire presence intimidated me.

  We paused at a set of double doors, and Cal turned to face me. “Please don’t leave your room without me or my sister. Wynn is great and all, but she’s the size of a baby carrot, and I would hate for something to happen to you before I got to know you.” Cal looked up at me bashfully under thick eyelashes.

  My stomach did a flip-flop. “Um, right of course.” I hated how I stammered when I was nervous.

  “Rest easy, Ms. Freya.” He bowed low before smiling up at me, his straight white teeth gleaming at me in the dimly light hallway. “I have no doubt we will see more of each other.”

  My thundering heart probably followed him all the way down the hall. I floated into the lavish set of rooms and threw myself onto the fourposter bed situated in the middle of the room.

  “It’s nice to finally have a man be nice to me, rather than hating me every second of the day,” I muttered to myself before I decided it was time to explore my living conditions.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Sterling

  Anger was fizzling right under the surface. Who was that guy and who did he think he was? Ignoring her then flirting? I rolled my eyes at the scene playing through the mirror. Freya’s words had me snapping my attention back to her on the bed.

  “It’s nice to finally have a man be nice to me, rather than hating me every second of the day.” She closed her eyes tightly before she looked around herself.

  Remorse filled every inch of me. I had no doubts that she was speaking about me and how terrible I had been to her. I watched as she oohed and awed over her surroundings and rightfully so, but I didn’t understand why she would want to stay there. Living in a castle did have its perks, but did she really hate us that much to not want to come back? I understood why she wouldn’t want to come back because of me, but what about my sister and parents? Hadn’t they left enough reason for her to want to stay?

  A shuffling noise startled me out of my thoughts, and I looked up to find Ayre standing in the doorway. She looked around me and eyed the full-length mirror, not a scratch to be found on it, thanks to our father’s magic. She frowned at me like I had been caught doing something forbidden. Or maybe it was forbidden to be watching Freya like I was…

  “Father did it? Can we get her back?” Ayre made slow movements toward me, almost hesitant.

  “What if she doesn’t want to come back?” I asked, not looking at her.

  She marched around me and stood directly in my line of sight. “What do you mean, she doesn’t want to come back?” She narrowed her eyes at me, accusingly.

  “I don’t know, that’s just what she told the queen there.” I covered my face with my hands, waiting for her to physically attack me.

  “This is all your fault! All of it! I don’t know why you were so hell-bent on hating her, but here you go! You have pushed one of my only friends away and probably the only one that could defeat her mother. Do you realize what you have done?” Ayre’s voice was shrill, taking on a strange lilt as she continued on.

  When I lifted my head up to look at her, I noticed her hair floating around her head like a halo and I knew she was on the brink of losing her magic. I needed to talk her down.

  “I know that, okay? I know that I screwed up. I don’t know why I did it. Maybe it’s the fact that I feel pulled toward her and it’s the most annoying thing I have ever experienced. Maybe it’s the fact that I can’t go out and have a good time without thinking of her red hair or her fiery personality that matches it?” I let out a grunt and spun away from the feisty woman facing me in the mirror. She was brushing her teeth, and her hair was pulled up on top of her head, and she looked adorable. This was terrible.

  Ayre just stared at me with her mouth hanging open. “Who are you?”

  I rolled my eyes. “I know I am not making a lick of sense, but I have been pushing down my attraction to her since she showed up in my bedroom that night. It came out as hatred because I knew I didn’t have a chance at trying to be something with her. It would never work. There was no point in letting her develop good feelings toward me.”

  “I guess that makes sense. Wow, you are such a sad man. You could have prevented all of this if you had just done it healthily!” Ayre looked at the mirror, and her face softened. Freya was tucked into bed and sleeping soundly. Ayre
grabbed the bottom of the silk curtain covering one of the windows and yanked down on it. She then tossed it over the mirror and shook her head. “You can’t peep on her any longer. Yes, we need to know more about the Mirror Realm, but we can’t do it like this.”

  I shrugged my shoulders. “I was trying to figure out a way to get her back.”

  “You won’t do that by staring at her.” Ayre crossed her arms over her chest.

  “No, but maybe I could learn something about her, to help me persuade her to come back to us,” I said, dejectedly.

  “Then she finds out you were spying on her?” Ayre let out a huff of air. “This is not going to go over well, I hope you know that.”

  Chapter Eighteen

  Freya

  I paced around the set of rooms that had been assigned to me. There was soft rose gold wallpaper from floor to ceiling. The carpet was plush ivory, and my feet literally sank down into it. I didn’t even feel like it was appropriate for my shoes to even touch the rich material, so I set them on the seté in the corner of the room, by the bookcase full of books in other languages. I had tried to read one in my boredom, but couldn’t understand anything on the page. All the letters and symbols floated around on the pages.

  I had been so thankful I had packed some clothes until I realized there was a massive closet on the other side of the bathtub, stocked full of the most beautiful dresses I had ever seen. I ran my fingers over the materials gingerly, scared that the oils on my hands would mess them up.

  “Those are for you.” Cal’s voice had me jumping out of my skin.

  I placed my hand over my heart and glared daggers at him. “What if I was naked?” I panted.